Harvest Moon: Cat Clan, #1

By C.L. Bevill

Emma is a member of the Cat Clan. She is an animal shifter who was brutally turned when she was only fourteen years old. Wheeler is the leader of the Cat Clan. He is another shifter who brought Emma into his realm when he scented her presence in another state. Because of her violent introduction to the world of weres, Wheeler has been dancing around Emma for years, waiting for her to adjust and realize their innate attraction. On the cusp of that relationship, Emma is taken by a group of humans that ruthlessly use shifters as big game and experimentation. Both will fight to overcome circumstances. Emma will battle to survive. Wheeler will struggle to find Emma before it's too late.

This is a novella of approximately 33,500 words. It is paranormal romance and a companion piece to the Moon Trilogy (Black Moon, Amber Moon, and Silver Moon). All are offered free on www.smashwords.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.L. Bevill
• Release date: Jul 17, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466166042

C.L. Bevill

C.L. Bevill is the author of several books including Bubba and the Dead Woman, Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas, Bubba and the Missing Woman, Bayou Moon, The Flight of the Scarlet Tanager, Veiled Eyes, Disembodied Bones, and Shadow People. She is currently at work on her latest literary masterpiece.

Book preview

Harvest Moon

By

C.L. Bevill

A Cat Clan Novella

Thanks to Mary E. Bates, freelance proofreader of ebooks, printed material, and websites.

Contact her at [e-mail]

Harvest Moon

Published by C.L. Bevill at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 by Caren L. Bevill

Harvest Moon is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Note to readers:

This is a paranormal romance novella meant to be a companion piece to the Moon Trilogy (Black Moon, Amber Moon, and Silver Moon.) It’s meant to stand alone but it might help to read the three previous novellas in order first.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

About the Author

Other Novels by C.L. Bevill

Chapter One

A harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox.

It often appears fuller and golden in color

because of its proximity to the curvature of the earth.

~

A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes. – Proverb

Emma Lucia stared down at the man. Standing in the shadows of a neglected balcony, she was getting her personal fix without having to pretend she wasn’t watching him. The balcony overlooked the large room that was multipurpose depending on its need. Once it had been a ballroom made for majestic gatherings and a musical orchestra. The walls were lined with silk. The floor was constructed of Macassar ebony. Five crystal chandeliers dangled from a trompe l’oeil painted ceiling of glittering stars. Four private balcony boxes with velvet seating ringed the room.

Presently, the grand room was a gym. The man she observed was using it as such, as did many of the Cat Clan’s membership. There were thick mats covering the hardwood floor. Exercise equipment lined one side and treadmills the other side. The man was using a punching bag that hung from an independent stand. With each powerful hit, the stand bounced and the bag swung precariously.

The Cat Clan lived in Colorado and the state was considered their territory. It was a group of feline shifters who banded together for protection and for support. The compound was a thousand acres of mountain properties complete with a 1930’s mansion that housed their offices. The compound’s various surrounding buildings had been transformed for the Clan’s uses.

Emma would have sighed but she was slightly afraid that the man would hear her. He was a were like her. But he wasn’t exactly like her. Certainly, Emma could hold her own in the shifters’ often violent society. Her small stature and diminutive frame often misled larger, foolhardy shifters into thinking she was easily cowed. Emma wasn’t easily anything. Her arms and shoulders were lined with sinewy muscles that could keep up with most. Her body was toned and ready for immediate action. She regularly practiced her Krav Maga forms, as well as a type of Brazilian Jujitsu that kept her safe from most attacks.

For the remainder of those who sought to increase their power bases by taking Emma down, she had her knives. On this particular day she had six on her person. Someone who was searching her might find four, but he wouldn’t find the other two until she was using them to make the person go away. After all, a girl couldn’t count on brute strength alone.

Did she need to mention that her shifter shape was little better than her seemingly insubstantial human form? A few of the cougars and tigers thought being an ocelot was hilarious. Sometimes called a dwarf leopard, her shifted form was the size of a domesticated feline, albeit a large domesticated feline at approximately thirty-five pounds, but it was significantly smaller than most of the other Cat Clan members’ shifted natures. Although a local pussy cat would probably turn tail and run from her altered form, she was still slighter than most of the other Cat Clan members. Emma was the solitary ocelot were in the complex.

The fact that Emma was second in command under the man she watched was a bone of contention. Specifically, there were three active bones of contention. The most bothersome and previously mentioned detail was that she was an ocelot were. The second was that she was a female. Most of the clan members didn’t bother to understand that ocelots are fiercely territorial and will often fight to the death in their disputes. Emma had fought to the death. Fortunately, it hadn’t been her death and therefore she had proven herself.

The final niggling element was that she was a turned were and not one born naturally. Bigotry came in all sizes and shapes. For some of the Cat Clan, that was three strikes against her and two too many. Ocelot, female, and a turned were. She supposed that meant she should go hide in a hole with her tail tucked away in shame.

But anyone who thought that didn’t know Emma very well.

Emma did sigh then. It was a minute sigh that was little more than a soft exhale of air. The man hesitated for an instant that was barely discernable. Then he kicked the bag with a savage movement and the stand lifted three feet into the air. It slammed back into the mats with a muffled crash. Emma blinked. She’d seen the action performed on a live individual and knew it had to hurt.

The man followed with driving punches that made the bag squeal with agony. One seam began to rip. Emma tracked with her eyes. The man continued his zealous assault. And there went the bag. The heavy material ripped sharply and the contents spewed over the mats.

The man said a nasty word. Emma thought he should be used to it. He did it on a regular basis. It was an ongoing joke that the Cat Clan should invest in gymnasium equipment.

Emma took a moment to look him over. His hair was streaks of gold that had been darkened with sweat. His tall frame was corded with muscle; the measurement of his chest was probably the same number of inches that Emma was tall. His eyes were the same color as the lightest part of his hair.

Once Emma had seen a Harvest Moon. As it powered over the horizon it had changed from a reddish hue to gold. The gold was a shade that would perfectly match the color that the man so naturally possessed. She had never forgotten it and until Emma had met him, she had never been able to compare the color.

Romantic drivel, she scolded herself derisively. Idiotic Emma for thinking like this. The man was tall, golden, and handsome. He was well-defined from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. He was also an alpha male down to the tiniest little particle in his body.

Not perfect though, Emma considered. His nose was crooked from being broken too many times. He barked out orders when he could simply use a moderate tone. He was particularly grumpy in the morning until he’d gotten a massive caffeine fix. And God forbid that anyone should ask him where he was on Sunday evenings because he was furtively watching True Blood on HBO. Emma thought that he had a thing for Sookie Stackhouse and maybe Tara, too.

Why all this twisted obsessive interest in him? Emma asked herself scathingly. If she could have answered the question, then she wouldn’t be hiding in the shadows of a disused balcony box studying him with all the concentration of a star struck stalker.

She’d been with the Cat Clan for almost five years. Emma had worked her way up into the position she held through the loss of red blood cells and excessive perspiration. She hadn’t made many friends in the Clan and there was a deficiency of female felines. Speaking to her human friends about Clan matters or shifter subjects was discouraged.

And Emma couldn’t ask him.

But she could kick his finely formed butt into oblivion.

Emma soundlessly launched herself off the balcony. She didn’t aim for the man’s back but dropped onto the mats just behind and coiled into a high round kick designed to break the man’s jaw.

The man twisted with blinding speed. The kick bounced off his shoulder. He affected a basic fighting stance and his golden eyes raptly glittered at her. Emma, he breathed. He shook his head and spatters of sweat were flung away like a brief rainfall.

Gross, Emma said derogatorily.

A brief smile crossed the man’s lips. He immediately went into a basic left-right combination punch. His left fist shot at her face. Emma leaned back in instantaneous response and the fist flew by her face. The man followed with the right fist. She pushed the fist away from her with her defending hand and jabbed him in his ribs. He grunted. Her arm recoiled efficiently and she drove a punch at his face without even a hint of hesitation.

Clearly he was surprised at her aggressive maneuvers. Her fist hit him solidly in the face. The man took three rapid steps backward and touched a finger to his lip. He brought the finger back to look at the blood there. That was perfectly executed, he said with evident pride in his voice.

Emma didn’t waste time speaking. The mandates of Krav Maga dictated that the individual be able to walk away safely. There was no necessity in proving themselves in a fight or to perform movements properly. If it were a real fight, Emma should have decked the man and escaped to fight another day. One of the most basic decrees of Krav Maga was to defend and counterattack simultaneously and to get away from the situation. But she wasn’t playing by those rules on this day.

Reviews for Harvest Moon

[cynical_ames · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Set after the Moon Trilogy, I enjoyed this more-so than those books. It was the slow burn that did it. The hero and heroine don't get together until 5 years after they first met, and the hero is the alpha of the Cat Clan -that's some self-control!

However, when Wheeler found Emma she was a mess. Damaged by the one who had turned her and forced to kill him to escape, and then with no advice or support she was doing her best to survive on her own. She didn't trust anyone, especially not some strange Cat Alpha. It took her a very long time to even step on to the Cat compound and even longer to become part of their community.

But because of the Alpha's obvious interest in her no one could get close enough to her to become her confidante and therefore impart valuable information on mating so she didn't understand the alpha's interest in her!

I loved the retrospective scenes where we come to understand Emma's background and her relationships and position with the Cat Clan. She may be a small wereanimal as an ocelot but she's fierce and cunning.

My Favourite Scene
Security conscious Emma is an Ocelot to Wheeler's lazy, arrogant Lion.

'The economy of movement through the leaves of the tree made little noise, but it was enough that Wheeler turned his massive leonine head in her direction. The sight if a thirty-five pound ocelot flying directly at him must have been disconcerting. The comical expression on the feline face would have been rib-tickling if Emma could have taken a moment to stop and consider it.
He was amazed that Emma was doing what she had done. The with bruising force, she abrubtly connected with his body, wrapping her claws around his neck, digging into his back with her rear legs in a manner that made Wheeler suddenly erupt with fury. She bit his neck as he leapt upward, bucking her like a horse with an unruly rider. Sharply, Emma spun on his back and raced backward down his spine, leaping over his violently slashing tail into the brush.
Wheeler roared. So much for his serenity. Mere seconds later he was bellowing after her, "Emma, goddammit! What the hell was that?!"'

[p. s · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

good

[erme-8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i enjoyed the short book and read it in one sitting it was a wonderful read i just would like to have seen the book have been longer it would have held readers for more suspense and it would be wonderful to see in a second book what happens between Emma and Wheeler.